Art offerings at autumn festival include stained-glass creations

Tish Adams rubs a soldering iron against a joint in the stained-glass window she's custom-creating for a Lawrence home. In a matter of seconds, a silver pool of solder bonds to flux, fixing two buttery yellow glass flower petals to each other.

"This window is the only one like it," Adams said, working last week at Glass on Mass, the art glass studio she opened in April 2002 at 1103 Mass. "I'll never use the pattern again."

Sunday, Adams and her assistant, Angie Segraves, will tote their one-of-a-kind glassworks to South Park for Lawrence's 24th annual Fall Arts & Crafts Festival. More than 150 artists and craftspeople from across the country will peddle their wares at the event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the park, 11th and Massachusetts streets.

Adams will sell stained glass in the $10 to $50 range. She'll also discuss custom orders and sign people up for stained-glass classes she teaches at Glass on Mass.

"One of the wonderful things about stained glass is it's not really the same as freehand painting or drawing," Adams said. "It's just a matter of being good at color choices and making sure your patterns make sense."

Adams started dabbling in stained glass 20 years ago as a hobby. She was pregnant and living in a small mountain town west of Denver. She said she went to an art supply store and just taught herself. She later learned from professionals, she said, and "unlearned" her bad habits.

Several years ago, she decided she wanted to open a store in Lawrence.

"There's just so many houses in Lawrence that need stained glass," she said. "They're just suited for it. It gives such distinction to a home."

More than that, though, Adams recognized that there were a lot of glass artists working in the area and no local supplier. Glass on Mass sells art glass and supplies. The store also sells work by about 10 area artists on consignment.

She said the most popular stained-glass style in Lawrence was probably Prairie, a style characterized by low, horizontal lines developed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

But Adams often mixes a variety of styles in her custom designs. By the time she finishes the piece she's working on today, she will have invested about 40 hours in it.

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